Don the Beachcomber / Navy Grog in New York Times

The New York Times continues their investigation of things tiki ...

• Last December, it was an article on Beachbum Berry
• Two weeks, one on the Trader Vics Warehouse Sale
• Today, they rediscover the Navy Grog, and give a good mention of Don the Beachcomber

*Along with the Mai Tai and Zombie, the Navy Grog was part of his holy trinity of tiki drinks. “These are truly classic cocktails,” Mr. Miller said. “They’re bright, refreshing, with tastes that really pop in your mouth. They’re relics that people should get to know.”

Before too long, however, they may not be able to avoid knowing them. “You’re definitely seeing a big tiki comeback,” said Angus Winchester, a former London bartender and self-described “international bar consultant” who was mixing drinks recently at a tiki cocktail party held by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Mr. Winchester credits the resurgence to a recent spate of super-premium rums hitting the market — bartenders seeking to showcase these rums are being inexorably led by the ghost of Donn Beach’s old swizzle stick.*

The full article can be found here......
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/fashion/23shake.html?_r=1&ref=fashion&oref=slogin

Here's the entire article:

March 23, 2008
Shaken and Stirred
I’ll Have Some Rum, Hold the Umbrella
By JONATHAN MILES

WHEN a former bootlegger calling himself Donn Beach unveiled a potent triple-rum drink named the Navy Grog athis Hollywood restaurant Don the Beachcomber, he reportedly limited customers to two. At Elettaria, a restaurant and lounge that opened late last month in Greenwich Village with the Navy Grog on its menu, there’s no such limit. At least not yet.

“I don’t think it’s a drink to fear,” said Brian Miller, a bartender at Death & Company in the East Village who mans Elettaria’s bar once a week, and who helped, with the bar manager Lynette Marrero, create its cocktail list.

That differentiates it from the infamous Zombie Punch, another one of Don the Beachcomber’s tropical staples available at Elettaria, which comes with a walloping four and a half ounces of alcohol and is restricted to one Zombie per customer.

The Navy Grog — a heady mix of one ounce each of three rums, fresh lime and grapefruit juice, and a softening dose of honey syrup — is the Zombie’s less rowdy cousin. But like the Zombie, it has a rich legend.

It’s a throwback, as all New York cocktails are these days, but from what cocktail historians would deem more “recent” history: the 1930’s. That’s when Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt, as Donn Beach, started serving dolled-up rum drinks at his Polynesian-themed restaurants, kicking off the decades-long “tiki” phase of American drinking. Along with the Mai Tai and Zombie, the Navy Grog was part of his holy trinity of tiki drinks. “These are truly classic cocktails,” Mr. Miller said. “They’re bright, refreshing, with tastes that really pop in your mouth. They’re relics that people should get to know.”

Before too long, however, they may not be able to avoid knowing them. “You’re definitely seeing a big tiki comeback,” said Angus Winchester, a former London bartender and self-described “international bar consultant” who was mixing drinks recently at a tiki cocktail party held by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Mr. Winchester credits the resurgence to a recent spate of super-premium rums hitting the market — bartenders seeking to showcase these rums are being inexorably led by the ghost of Donn Beach’s old swizzle stick. But there’s a reactionary element at work, too, he said.

“Certain elements of mixology have gotten too dry,” he said, referring to a bar ethos that esteems pre-Prohibition cocktails, sometimes to a point of purism. “Cocktail lists are starting to look like history lessons, with bartenders hiding behind the fact that they’re using the 1812 recipe of a drink rather than the 1814 recipe. Tiki is the antithesis to all that.”

To a degree, anyway. As Mr. Miller said of the Navy Grog: “We’re using the original 1941 recipe.” Yet, pedigree aside, the drink can hardly be called austere. It’s a serious drink that, refreshingly, shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

Unless it proves, um, popular enough for Elettaria to resurrect Don the Beachcomber’s old two-Grog limit. “We don’t want tables overturned,” Mr. Miller said.

NAVY GROG Adapted from Elettaria

1 ounce Demerara rum
1 ounce Gosling’s Black Seal rum
1 ounce Cruzan Estate Light rum
¾ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
¾ ounce freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
1 ounce honey syrup *
¾ ounce club soda
Orange slice and cherry, for garnish.

Shake all liquid ingredients except club soda together with ice in cocktail shaker. Strain into Collins glass filled with ice, top with soda and add garnish.

Yield: 1 serving

• For honey syrup, mix 2 parts honey with 1 part warm water, then cool.

There's hope yet! Looks like I need to make a trip to NY soon. LeisureMaster - get ready!

Here's a link to Death and Co's Web site:
http://www.deathandcompany.com

Thanks, guys! I'm making a copy of this article for everyone in my office.

On 2008-03-24 06:03, johnman wrote:
There's hope yet! Looks like I need to make a trip to NY soon. LeisureMaster - get ready!

Here's a link to Death and Co's Web site:
http://www.deathandcompany.com

C'mon down - would love have you guys visit and show you around to D&C, M&H and other assorted places of highbrow cocktailery (as well as some lowbrow boozefestery).

Also pay attention to the NY Classic Bar thread started by Urban Tiki - we are having our first excursion this week but I think this idea is going to be a long-lived winner with many future explorations.

I went to the website for the Distilled Spirits Council, and learned that rum sales increased 8.9% last year, for total sales of $2.1 billion. Meanwhile, the market share for beer has gone down for every one of the last six years.

I have a new theory, that the rise in popularity of more complicated cocktails might be due to the influence of Starbucks and other similar coffee houses. You go to one of those places, and a barista will take the time to create your own specialized coffee drink. There is usually a wait involved, but people don't mind, if they feel they are receiving a quality individually-made drink that tastes much better than some quick coffee poured from some communal coffee pot.

Perhaps that same consumer model is migrating to the bar/nightclub scene. People might be tired of paying $5-6 for a glass of beer, and having it poured and served quickly from a tap. For a few dollars more, and a short wait, they can observe the bartender actually doing real preparation with their drink - and not just slosh 2 or 3 liquors over some ice in a glass.

There have always been people who appreciate quality over quantity ... but perhaps things didn't really start to click until the Starbucks model arrived, and influenced a whole generation of people that having to wait for a quality drinking beverage, and willing to pay a higher price, was a worthwhile thing.

Why do I have a sudden craving for the Mai Kai's Black Magic, with its mixture of rum and coffee flavors.

[ Edited by: ikitnrev 2008-03-24 12:40 ]

On 2008-03-24 12:39, ikitnrev wrote:
Why do I have a sudden craving for the Mai Kai's Black Magic, with its mixture of rum and coffee flavors.

mmmmmm.........

With all of this going on yet the famous Wreck Bar at the Yankee Clipper in Lauderdale still can't make a decent Mai-Tai*. Damn chain hotels!

• except during Hukilau

[ Edited by: rugbymatt 2008-03-24 14:00 ]

On 2008-03-24 13:48, Johnny Dollar wrote:

On 2008-03-24 12:39, ikitnrev wrote:
Why do I have a sudden craving for the Mai Kai's Black Magic, with its mixture of rum and coffee flavors.

mmmmmm.........

If you want to play along at home, here is my own approximation:

Dark Magic by Craig Hermann

½ oz coffee syrup*
½ oz Licor 43
½ oz passion fruit syrup
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz Appleton V/X
1 oz Coruba
1 oz Lemon Hart 80 or other Demerara
dash Herbsaint

Add ingredients and 8oz of ice into blender. Blend by 5 one second pulses. Pour into double rocks glass. Garnish with maraschino cherry and lime wheel. With compliments to Jeff “beachbum’ Berry and The Mai-Kai’s Black Magic.

• add 4 shots espresso to 1 cup 2:1 simple syrup.

It is indeed wonderful to witness evidence that, after the Tiki mug has been the ambassador of the Tiki revival for many years, the Polynesian cocktail seems to be taking over the torch. This is undoubtedly thanks to Jeff Berry's stellar research work and his enthusiastic following of home mixologists, which are now more and more joined by professionals and writers who sing the praise of the resurrected concoctions.

So it seemed pretty obvious to me where the recipe mentioned in the article came from, and I checked with the master. It was indeed not only taken from his books' pages, but it was hand-delivered by the Bum himself (actually via e-mail) to the Elatteria bartender who requested it.

Now Jeff just had a very nice piece about his work in the Times, but is it too much to ask that there should be some kind of nod to him in this article, too? Yes it is an article about the bar, but also about the Navy Grog and its recipe, which...oh well.

But the article does mention Angus Winchester, who seems to become the type of new Tiki ambassador I mention above, because he also appears in this e-mail to the bum, in which both Jeff's and my work have been credited as inspiration for a new Tiki Bar in Copenhagen:

Over the last couple of years we have been looking to expand our business
and a numerous trips to London and many many mugs of rum in trailer
Happiness. We decided that Copenhagen needed a tiki bar

I had a chat with my good friend Angus Winchester and started researching
thing on line finding numerous books and articles and history about the tiki
culture.

Having decided we wanted a tiki bar we couldn't wait for the right location
to become available in Copenhagen we decided to style our existing
restaurant in to a tiki styled bar and restaurant. We have looked deep in to
the ideas behind tiki and have taken heavy influences from the tiki modern
book by Sven A Kirsten.

Due to the existing style of the location finance and some of the elements
of the room we have design a room that looks more like a 2008 version of a
50's modern take on tiki in stead of the traditional beach atmosphere.

The elements we hold strong to are tiki cocktails Inspire by your books
A home made grog tiki mugs tiki art work Intoxica style music modern remixed
versions of martin deny and such like the essence of escapism and fun.

We are working closely with cheeky tiki, tiki farm and I'm punking Angus
Winchester for tips and tricks as often as i can patiently allow my self to
bug him ( he's a very busy man but love the fun of tiki and hope in the
future to bring a more traditional tiki bar to Copenhagen when the right
location pops up.

Intoxica!!! The name we have chose is inspired by your book and by the
intoxicating world of tiki the culture the music the fun history the drinks
the atmosphere that means that you can't help your self feel intoxicated.

This all sounds very promising, with Jeff's drinks, the Farm's mugs, and Cheeky Tiki involved, they can't go wrong! It does appear that Europe is shaping up to be the happening place in the Tiki revival this year.

I'm very excited that the "serious" cocktail world is really embracing the best of the tiki drinks and helping to break through that "umbrella drink" stereotype. And yes, that is all definitely due to Jeff Berry and his books.

I'm also quite thrilled that in a couple of months, I'll be staying in NY for a week and my hotel is one block from Elettaria. Looking forward to some Yankee Zombies and Navy Grogs...

*On 2008-03-25 08:04, GatorRob wrote:*I'm also quite thrilled that in a couple of months, I'll be staying in NY for a week and my hotel is one block from Elettaria. Looking forward to some Yankee Zombies and Navy Grogs...

If you want any company or information from the local ohana, let us know when you're coming and we'll provide the crowd and/or advice!

I live close to Elettaria and plan on checking it out VERY soon.

The linkages between coffee and the Mai-tai continues. We've had coffee flavored rum drinks, and now the reverse has happened ....

[Tuesday, March 28, 2008]
(Drinks Media Wire)

Specialty Coffee Association of America’s (SCAA) Great Lakes Regional Barista Competition (GLRBC) judges – hosted by Alterra Coffee Roasters – affirmed what frequenters of Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Chicago have known for quite some time. Michael Phillips prepares an amazing cup of espresso, cappuccino as well as his own custom coffee beverages.

The GLRBC featured premier baristas from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. Phillips and his challengers delivered 12 coffee beverages – four espressos, four cappuccinos and four signature drinks of their choosing – in 15 minutes while being critiqued by the event’s seven judges. The SCAA-certified judges evaluated the competitors on taste, beverage presentation, technical skills, station cleanliness and total impression.

**Phillips’s signature drink – an espresso version of the popular cocktail, the Mai Tai – especially impressed the event’s arbitrators. “I have had an interest in mixology for awhile and the Mai Tai was the first drink I really worked with and developed to a successful level,” Phillips stated. “It transitioned to coffee very naturally.”

The frothy coffee concoction consisted of a mixture of espresso, a brewed Colombian micro-lot (La Planada) coffee, an orange reduction made from Cara Cara navel oranges and his own homemade version of orgeat (an almond-based syrup.) **

“Through his championship performance, Michael demonstrated the true artisanship involved in the barista profession,” said SCAA Executive Director Ric Rhinehart. “The Great Lakes Regional Barista Competition as well as our other nine barista events serve as a platform for these expert professionals to showcase their expert preparation skills, which ultimately provides our consumers with a more pleasurable and distinctive cup of specialty coffee.”